Stilts

ABSTRACT

A STILT FOR A PAIR OF STILTS INCLUDING A TUBULAR POST WHICH IS SQUARE OR RECTANGULAR IN SECTION, A STIRRUP FOR THE POST IN THE FORM OF AN ANGLE EXTRUSION FASTENED TO THE POST WITH BOLTS, A FOOT FOR THE POST IN THE FORM OF A T-SHAPED EXTRUSION SECURED TO THE BOTTOM END OF THE POST WITH BOLTS, AND A LEGGING SECURED TO THE UPPER END PORTION OF THE POST WITH BOLTS. THE BOLTS FOR THE STIRRUP AND THE LEGGING ARE MOVABLE TO PERMIT ADJUSTMENT OF THE HEIGHT OF THE STIRRUP AND THE LEGING. THE STIRRUP ALSO INCLUDES A CLEAT AND A HEEL PLATE WITH STRAPS OVER THE SAME WHICH ENCRICLE THE FOOT OF THE USER.

J. W. BAKER Dec. 14, 1971 STILTS Filed Oct. 20, 1969 INVENTOR. JESSE W.BAKER United States Patent 3,626,519 STILTS Jesse W. Baker, 122 GlenParkway, Hollywood, Fla. 33021 Filed Oct. 20, 1969, Ser. No. 867,624Int. Cl. A61f 3/00 US. Cl. 3-4 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Astilt for a pair of stilts including a tubular post which is square orrectangular in section, a stirrup for the post in the form of an angleextrusion fastened to the post with bolts, a foot for the post in theform of a T-shaped extrusion secured to the bottom end of the post withbolts, and a legging secured to the upper end portion of the post withbolts. The bolts for the stirrup and the legging are movable to permitadjustment of the height of the stirrup and the leging. The stirrup alsoincludes a cleat and a heel plate with straps over the same whichencircle the foot of the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Stilts which are known to the presentinventor utilize a round post with a stirrup, a legging and a foot allsecured to the post. The fastening of the stirrup, legging and foot tothe post has been accomplished with round collars and set screws. Suchstilts are often used by plasterers and other workmen, and dirt anddebris tend to get inside the collar making it very difficult if notimpossible to adjust the position of the stirrup and the legging. Thestirrup and the foot have usually been cast pieces. Such castingsrequire considerable labor and time to manufacture, and casting defectssometimes occur which weaken the structure undesirably. Furthermore, thecast foot and stirrup tend to slip relative to the post, and if they aresecured too tightly with set screws, the post may become deformed, orweakened. In general, considerable difliculty has been encountered withstilts employing round posts, cast stirrups and feet, and collar typemeans for attaching the stirrup and feet to the post.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the stilt of the present invention, the postis square or rectangular in section, and the stirrup and foot arealuminum extrusions such that all parts of the metal structure of thestilt are light in weight and yet durable and strong. The stirrup is anangle extrusion having an attachment plate section and a foot platesection at right angles to each other, and the attachment plate sectionis fastened to a fiat face of the post with bolts which extend throughholes in the post. The foot is a T-shaped extrusion including a baseplate section and an attaching plate section, and the attaching platesection is fastened to a fiat face of the post with bolts so that thebase plate section is under and butts up against the end of the post tosupport the post. The stirrup extrusion and the foot extrusion are notbrittle and do not break easily since they tend to bend rather thanbreak. A bent foot or stirrup can be easily repaired. The legging isalso fastened to the post with bolts, and the stirrup and legging bothcan be moved vertically to different positions to adjust the height ofthese items due to a series of apertures in the post for receiving thestirrup and legging bolts. A cleat and a heel plate are also providedfor the stirrup together with straps for encircling the foot of theuser.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stiltfor a pair of stilts in which stirrup and foot components are aluminumextrusions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stilt 3,626,519 PatentedDec. 14, 1971 with an angle shaped stirrup extrusion and a T-shaped footextrusion.

A further object of the invention is to attach the stirrup and footextrusions to fiat surfaces of the post for the stilt, the post beingsquare or rectangular in section.

Another object of the invention is to adjustably position a stirrup anda legging of the stilt by means of bolts which pass through openings inthe post of the stilt, there being a series of openings spacedlengthwise of the post to permit repositioning of the legging andstirrup.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stilt in which a squareor rectangular post provides fiat faces which facilitate attachment oflegging, stirrup and foot sections of the stilt.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

On the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a stilt in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 andshowing a foot portion of the stilt;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1and showing a stirrup section of the stilt; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the stilt, partly cut away, with thepost being shown in dotted lines.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various Ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

As shown on the drawings:

The stilt of the invention includes a tubular aluminum post 10 which issquare or rectangular in cross-section, a square post being shown in thedrawings. The post 10 has a series of openings 12, on opposite sidesthereof and spaced lengthwise along the post 10 from a point slightlybelow the mid-point of the post toward the top end of the post. Similaropenings are also provided at the bottom end of the post as will bedescribed further. The stilt also includes a legging 14, a stirrup 16and a foot 18.

The foot 18 is in the form of a T-shaped aluminum extrusion 20' whichhas a base plate section 22 and an attaching plate section 24 at a rightangle to each other. The reason for making the foot in'the form of aT-shaped extrusion is that an extrusion can be fabricated with lesslabor and with less time than other types of structures such ascastings, and there is less chance for defects in the structure. Theattaching plate section 24 is attached to the lower end of the post 10with bolts 26 which extend through the lower openings in the post 10 andare secured in place with nuts 28. The attaching plate 24 butts upagainst a flat face of the square post 10 and so is held firmly in placeby the bolts 26. This positions the base plate section 22 directly underand butting up against the bottom end of the post 10 with the base platesection 22 being perpendicular to the post 10. Pads 30 which may be madeof rubber are secured to the base plate section 22 with bolts 32. Thefoot 18 may be detached and replaced with an identical but larger footfor some applications.

The stirrup 16 is in the form of an angle-shaped aluminum extrusionhaving a foot plate section 34 and an attachment plate section 36 at aright angle to each other. The attachment plate section 36 is fastenedto the post 10 with bolts 38 which extend through selected ones of theopenings 12 and are secured in place with nuts 40. The attachment platesection 36 butts up fiat-wise against a fiat face of the post 10 andtherefore is also secured firmly in place. This positions the foot platesection 34 at a right angle to the post 10 so that a person can step onthe foot plate section as shown in FIG. 1. The aluminum extrusion forthe stirrup 16 is advantageous for the same reasons mentionedpreviously; that is, it is less costly and less time consuming tofabricate, and there are fewer chances for defects and less brittlenessin the structure. The stirrup 16 also includes a cleat 42 which has oneleg 4-4 secured to the foot plate section 34 with bolts 46 that arereceived in an elongated slot 48 in the leg 44 to permit adjustment ofthe position of the cleat 42. The cleat 42 has an upwardly extending leg50 with an opening 52 therein which receives a pull strap 54 with abuckle thereon for fastening the foot of the user to the foot platesection 34 in the manner shown in FIG. 1.

Also included in the stirrup 16 is a heel plate 56 that is welded to therear portion of the foot plate section 34 and has slots or apertures 58for receiving a strap 59 for encircling the foot of the user as shown inFIG. 1. The heel plate 56 is curved to conform to the heel of the usersfoot, and both the heel plate 56 and the cleat 42 may be eitherextrusions or they may be cut from strip stock and bent to shape. Bothof these items are preferably made of aluminum.

At the top of the post 10 is the legging 14. The legging consists of astrap 60 passing through loops 62 on a leather binding 64 provided witha pile lining 66, with the strap 60 having a buckle 68 for fastening itaround the leg of a person as shown in FIG. 1. Inside the strap there isa metal strip 70 (FIG. 4) which reinforces the strap 60 and the binding64, and this strip 70 is attached to a post 10 along with the strap 60and binding 64 by bolts 72 which pass through the post and also throughthe binding 64 and the strip 70. Nuts are provided on the inner end ofthe bolts 72. The legging 14 is on the same side of the post as thestirrup.

Both the legging and the stirrup may be moved to different positionsmerely by detaching the bolts 38 and 72 and moving them with the leggingand stirrup to the different selected positions on the post 10 where thebolts can pass through selected ones of the holes 12. The attachment ofthe stirrup and legging to the square post with straight bolts in themanner shown prevents twisting or turning of the legging and stirrup,and mounts them in a very secure fashion. Since the stirrup and thelegging may be completely removed to readjust their positions, there isno problem of dirt getting into sliding collars or similar attachmentdevices and thus interfering with adjustment of the legging and stirrup.As previously mentioned, the

extrusions for the stirrup and the foot are advantageous from amanufacturing standpoint both as to labor and time involved inmanufacturing, and the extrusions are strong and durable.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A stilt comprising a rigid, unitary tubular post of squared section,a foot in the form of a unitary aluminum T extrusion secured to a bottomend of said post, said foot comprising a horizontal base plate sectionwith a vertical plate section centrally thereof bolted to said bottomend of said post, a stirrup secured to said post in a position spacedabove said foot, legging means secured to said post above said stirrup,said stirrup comprising a unitary aluminum angle extrusion having a footplate section and an attachment plate section at a right angle to eachother, said attachment plate section having bolt openings therein, saidlegging means having an attachment strip with bolt openings therein,said post having a series of bolt openings in pairs on opposite sides ofsaid post spaced longitudinally thereof at which said stirrup and saidlegging means may be selectively positioned, bolts extending throughselected pairs of said post openings and said attachment strip openingsfastening said legging means to said post, bolts extending throughselected pairs of said post openings and said stirrup openings andfastening said attachment plate section flatwise relative to one fiatface of said post and projecting down from said foot plate section tothereby position said foot plate section at a right angle to said postin position to receive the foot of a user, said bolts being detachableto permit movement of said legging means and said stirrup to differentpositions whereby said bolts may be relocated in said stirrup openings,said attachment strip openings and different ones of said post openingsto refasten said stirrup and said legging means to said post, saidstirrup further including an L-shaped rigid cleat having one leg securedto said foot plate section and another leg projecting upward from saidfoot plate section with an aperture therein, a toe strap passing throughsaid aperture for encircling the toe of a person, a curved heel platewelded to a rear portion of said foot plate section and upstandingtherefrom, and a foot strap passing through apertures of said heelplate.

2. The stilt as claimed in claim 1 in which said one end of said postbutts against said base plate section of said foot so that said baseplate section bears the weight of the user.

3. The stilt as claimed in claim 1 in which said legging includes ametal strip bridging said bolts on inside of said strap to stiffen andreinforce said strap means where fastened by said bolts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,427,030 8/1922 Stephens et a1.27270.1 2,659,087 11/1953 Skaggs et al. 3-4 2,826,415 3/1958 Pate 12880X 2,837,335 6/1958 Koenig 272-70.1 3,255,464 6/1966 Jones 34 3,346,88210/1967 Wilhoyte 3-4 3,365,195 1/1968 Hansburg 27270.1

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner J. YASKO, Assistant Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 27270.1

